Green Gazpacho Soup with Goats Cheese & Walnuts

The good thing about making New Years food resolutions in New Zealand is that they are easier to keep living in the southern hemisphere. I can’t even begin to imagine turning over a new (lettuce) leaf and eating salads and soup in a UK mid winter but here it has been so warm this year one craves fresh and light dishes.

I first tasted gazpacho in Spain when I was 17 and thought it was dreadful eating cold soup but that was before I developed a passion for food. Now it is probably one of my favourite, it is so fresh and light for those really hot days. I couldn’t resist adding my favourite goats cheese to it and a few walnuts for some crunch and of course some crusty bread for dipping!

This recipe is Really easy to make by whizzing everything together in a food processor, pushing it through a colander and chilling it down.

I have also been fiddling with my new photo software on my iPad……jury’s out on the new format I chose but it good to experiment.

Ingredients

2 cucumbers, sliced lengthways and de-seeded

1 green pepper/capsicum, halved & de-seeded

4 green tomatoes

2 spring onions

1clove garlic

1 slice sour dough bread

2 tbsp of white wine vinegar

3tbsp olive oil

salt & pepper for seasoning

goats cheese & walnuts optional for garnish

Method

Soak the bead with the vinegar and olive oil.

Rough chop the pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, garlic and spring onion and place in a food processor or blender.

Add the bread also to the food processor/blender and blend until smooth.

season with a little salt and pepper and the strain all the ingredients through a colander or course sift. You want texture to come through but to leave any bigger bits behind.

depending on how thick the soup is you can add some water or ice cubes if you want to chill it down quickly.

chill in fridge for several hours for the flavours to improve then serve with goats cheese and walnuts.